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Here Are Seven Things You Didn't Know About Ghana's Iñaki Williams

Football News Here Are Seven Things You Didn't Know About Ghana's Iaki Williams
JAN 16, 2019 LISTEN

Modernghana.com sports editor, Samuel Ekow Amoasi Appiah brings you the hidden secrets about Spanish born Ghanaian international, Iñaki Williams Arthuer.

The talented goal poacher began playing youth football with local CD Pamplona when he was spotted by Athletic Bilbao, who signed him to their youth setup at Lezama at the age of 18.

He spent his first season with the Juvenil A side and made a big impression, scoring at the rate of almost a goal a game (eventually ending with 36); the team finished runners-up in the Copa del Rey Juvenil de Fútbol, and on 25 June 2013 he signed a new contract with the Basque club, running until 2017.

The 24-year-old forward scored two staggering goals over the weekend and is Athletic Club’s leading scorer with seven goals this season in LaLiga Santander.

Below are the secrets about Iñaki who is yet to represent Ghana at the senior level...

1. His Liberian mother and Ghanaian father met in a refugee camp near Accra having fled from the civil war in Liberia. After moving to Spain, Iñaki Williams was born in Barakaldo, just outside Bilbao, on 15 June 1994.

2. He started playing football as a youngster in Pamplona, where he earned money on the side working as a referee, and was often likened to Italian striker Mario Balotelli.

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3. He joined the Athletic Club youth Academy in 2012 and was given his first-team LaLiga debut by current FC Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde on 6 December 2014.

The Ghanaian international became the first black player to score for Athletic on 19 February 2015, when he netted against Torino in the Europa League, and he has gone on to score 43 goals for the club in all competitions.

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4. On Sunday, he ended a 770 day goal-drought in front of his own fans by scoring twice at San Mames in their 2-0 victory over Sevilla FC, and played in his 100th consecutive game with Athletic in LaLiga Santander. (He's only the fifth player to achieve the feat at the club).

5. He’s one of the fastest players in LaLiga, having been clocked at 35.71 km/hour, is nicknamed the ‘Black Panther’ and has one full Spain cap.

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6. On 20 March 2015, Williams received his first international call-up, being named in Albert Celades' Spain under-21 squad for friendlies with Norway and Belarus.

He made his debut on the 26th against the former, replacing goalscorer Munir El Haddadi at half-time of a 2–0 friendly win in Cartagena.

7. Williams was one of 11 standby players for Vicente del Bosque's Spain squad at UEFA Euro 2016.

Around the same time, he was also coveted by the Ghanaian national team by their Spanish scout Gerard Nus.

He made his debut for the former on 29 May, replacing fellow debutant Marco Asensio at the hour mark of a 3–1 friendly defeat of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Samuel Ekow Amoasi Appiah
Samuel Ekow Amoasi Appiah

Sports JournalistPage: SamuelEkowAmoasiAppiah

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